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De-glitched, the C64’s Up and Running Again

The on-again, off-again Commodore 64 app for Apple is on again in the iTunes app store, now improved over the original version that appeared—but only briefly—in September.

The colorful app that mimics one of the world’s favorite personal computers had become the subject of a drawn-out approval process that pitted Apple against Manomio, the developer. As we reported here in June, the computer company rejected the program for violating the “SDK agreement,” which dictates that “no interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s).”

Manomio’s Stuart Carnie appealed, and after he disabled the controversial feature, Apple published the app in September. Days later, it was pulled. According to Touch Arcade, the developer was asked to remove, rather than just disable, the BASIC interpreter from the program. The code would have allowed unscrupulous users to run unlicensed, emulated code on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

The C64 is now up and running on the iTunes store and priced at $4.99. “Ever wonder where the 80s went?” reads the description. “Well, they’re back!” Indeed, the app recreates some of the Commodore’s seminal retro games, including Le Mans, Dragons Den and Jupiter Lander.

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Gadgetwise is a blog about everything related to buying and using tech products. From figuring out which gadget to buy and how to get the best deal on it to configuring it once it’s out of the box, Gadgetwise offers a mix of information, analysis and opinion to help you get the most out of your personal tech.